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One of my favorite dishes at our corner Thai restaurant is a warm ground beef salad served over crisp shredded cabbage and lettuce leaves. I’ve taken the idea and turned it into a pickup appetizer by serving the warm beef mixture in little butter lettuce leaves and then garnishing them with the shredded cabbage.

The recipe is quick and easy and I find I usually have most of the ingredients on hand. You can substitute ground chicken or pork if that’s what you have in the fridge or freezer.

1 pound extra-lean ground beef

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce

2 shallots, peeled and very thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 green onion, very thinly sliced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Cilantro

Butter lettuce leaves, for serving

Very thinly sliced small hot peppers, for garnish

Mint leaves, for garnish

Shredded cabbage, for garnish

Chop ground beef well. Place beef in a cold nonstick skillet and stir in lime juice, fish sauce and shallots. Place skillet over a burner and turn heat to medium-high. Cook ground beef mixture for 5-10 minutes, until beef is completely cooked. Remove skillet from heat and add chopped green onion and cilantro.

To serve, place a spoonful of the meat mixture over the lettuce leaves and garnish with peppers, mint and cabbage.